Feekiarv 211. I'j(i2. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



419 



especially j'ou carnation men. Give the 

 retailer value received for his money, 

 and don't try to make liim pay for 

 something that's not worth the price. 

 Be more careful in your grading, and 

 be sure that j-ou put 20 carnations in 

 every bunch. With the above method 

 I will guarantee you will make more 

 mone.v, and there will be no cause for 

 the now many unpleasant remarks. 



And right here I would like to say 

 a few words in regard to packing flowers 

 for market. Don't jam their noses tight 

 up against the end of the box, causing 

 them to look as if they had been in a 

 prize fight. Always pa«k in layers from 

 each end of the box, bringing the bulk 

 of the stems to the center. 'Then cut a 

 cross piece, place same through the cen- 

 ter of the box, press down as tight as 

 you can and fasten securel.v. In this 

 way 3'our ilowers will sta.v .just as you 

 place them and arrive in good condition, 

 it matters not how roughly the express 

 messenger handles them. 



Don't sprinkle carnations or roses 

 after you have carefully packed them, 

 especially carnations, as it simply ruins 

 them. I have received mau.y a box of 

 (lowers that were virtually ruined that 

 had been treated to the water solution. 

 But I believe growers are beginning to 

 wake up. They are using better meth- 

 ods, thev are learning to look after 

 their crops after harvesting, and if thev 

 will be a little more careful in grad- 

 ing their stock and growing their flow- 

 ers, it will be much better for all con- 

 cerned. 



One more point. Wliat grade of car- 

 nations should be grown to pay the 

 grower, quality or quantit.v? You will 

 find growers who ditjer on this question, 

 I'Ut, gentlemen, let me tell you right 

 here that the man who grows quantit.y 

 of quality is the one who makes the 

 money. All fancies will not do because 

 all people do not care to pay fancy 

 prices. All poor grades will not do, be- 

 cause you can not sell them for a liv- 

 ing profit. Then which shall we grow? 

 The mediums that will wholesale at 2, 3 

 and 4 cents each; these are the money 

 makers, and the ones that will make the 

 growers happ.y. 



When, on Sept. 0, the news was flashed 

 across the continent that the chief ^nag- 

 istrate of the United States had been 

 assassinated, there was not a man, wo- 

 man or child who w'as not bowed with 

 grief, and especially were the florists of 

 all others. Why? Because it was this 

 grand man who signed the charter that 

 makes the florists of the United States a 

 national body. And not onl.v this, but 

 it was he who loved the carnation above 

 all other flowers and was the prime 

 cause of having it adopted as a Repub- 

 lican emblem, and it is now discussed 

 as the national flower. It was the grow- 

 ers' methods that are the cause of all 

 this; had they not been progressive, they 

 would not have caused the above to be 

 facts. 



Only a few years ago the carnation 

 was only an infant, but it had a father 

 in Mr. Fred Dorner, who by his untir- 

 ing energj' has brought the divine flower 

 to the position in society that it has 

 today. Progress in growers' methods 

 has placed the florist in the front rank 

 and the statistics at Washington show 

 that in the ITnited Stiites in 1899 were 

 raised .$1S,3S7.420 worth of flowers and 

 foliage plants, with 0,1.59 establishments, 

 whose land with buildings amounts to 

 $50,019,866. Why should we not be 



proud cf our profession? Why should 

 we not be prouil of our growers and 

 their gocxl methods, which have placed 

 us on a level with the best commercial 

 interests of the country? But we will 

 not stop here in our race for supremacy; 

 we must gain more laurels, we must use 

 the better methods that are coming up 

 from daj- to day, and advance the inter- 

 ests of floriculture as she so justly de- 

 .serves. 



CHICAGO TO INDIANAPOLIS. 



The delegation from Chicago to the 

 Indianapolis convention of the Ameri- 

 can Carnation Society filled two special 

 ears, and included the following: 



John Thorpe, Peter Reinberg. C. L. 

 Washburn, G. H. Pieser, F. Benthev, 

 H. Wietor, C. A. Samuelson, E. A. 

 Kanst, E. C. Amling, Anton Then, W. 

 N. Eudd, Edgar Sanders, Geo. Garland, 

 Wm. Kroesehell, E. Buettner, Geo. 

 Weiland,. L. Coatsworth, Adam Zender, 

 Andrew Benson, J. C. Vaughan. M. Bar- 

 ker, C. Schweigert, F. Bahr, W. L. Pal- 

 insky, J. S. Wilson, W. G. Earle, J. B. 

 Amphlett, F. Fischer, A. Hills, G. L. 

 Grant, C. Tuegel, all of Chicago. Also. 

 Wm. Clark. Colorado Springs, Colo. ; 

 .James Hartshorne, Joliet, 111.; J. C. 

 Rennison, Siou.x Citv, la.; 0. W. John- 

 son, Rockford, I11.;"W. E. Kemble, Os- 

 kaloosa, la. 



NEW YORK. 



The Market. 



Monday's awakening was a surprise. 

 A genuine old-fashioned blizzard with 

 snow six inches deep at sunrise, and a 

 .50-mile breeze that drifted roads, stag- 

 nated business and threatened the green- 

 house establishments within 100 miles 

 of New York with destruction. What 

 the "beautiful" may have accomplished 

 at this writing I cannot say, but ou 

 Monday night the snow is still falling; 

 the streets are nigh impassable, and not 

 since the great blizzard of 1888 has any- 

 thing like this wintry condition of 

 things been seen in the metropolis. For- 

 tunately the temperature is mild and no 

 serious damage has yet been reported. 

 Delayed trains and belated shipments 

 have kept both wholesalers and retailers 

 "in hot water'' all dav. 



Fortunately Prince Henry will not ar- 

 rive before next Saturday, and by that 

 time we are quite likely to see the "open- 

 ing of spring." 



In three weeks the department stores 

 will be dispensing rose bushes and the 

 Easter growers will be happ.y, for every 

 flowering plant will be sold, and most 

 of them are already engaged. It will 

 be another plant Easter, evidentl.y, and 

 the preparations made by the local 

 plantsmen are in excess of any 3'ear in 

 the city's history. 



All prices of flowers last week began 

 a retrograde movement, and the average 

 shrinkage was about 20 per cent on roses 

 and carnations. Still the verv best Beau- 

 ties commanded 60 cents, and Liberty, at 

 its best, was worth .$5 a ^lozen. 



The novelties in carnations occasion- 

 ally brought 10 cents. Fortunatel.y the 

 warm weather of Fridav and Saturday 

 provided an outlet for an accunnilation 

 of the pO'Ci^er and medium grades of 

 every kind of flower. 



Various Items. 



A. N. Pierson, Eugene Dailledouze, 

 C. W. Ward, Ernest Asmus and Frank 



McMahon were the eastern delegation to 

 the Indianapolis convention. 



It is reported that David Mellis, of 

 Flatbush, has sufTered from a very se- 

 vere attack of pneumonia, and that Al- 

 bert W'adley's progress toward recovery 

 is discouraging. "Notwithstandin.t; Mr. 

 Wadley's illness, the business of Wadley 

 & Smj-the has been immense this season. 

 A decoration by this fijm last week at; 

 Delmonico's for the wedding of one of 

 the "400" transformed the immense din- 

 ing rooms into a veritable garden, and 

 was pronounced the most original and 

 unique effort in that line ever seen at 

 this famous resort. 



Hodgson & Haufft also distinguished 

 themselves during the past week in sim- 

 ilar artistic work. 



Window decoration on Saturdays is a 

 feature now with the majority of Broad- 

 way and Fifth avenue florists, and the 

 paraders look for it and crowd around 

 the displays eagerly, and far into the 

 night. 



A lot of fine flowers from the Lake- 

 view Greenhouses, Jamestown, N. Y., are 

 finding an outlet in New York, ship- 

 ments having been made to many of the 

 prominent wholesalers. "Walter" must 

 have been telling the "growing depart- 

 ment" what a city this is for immediate 

 absorption of anything that has genuine 

 merit in it. 



Those express companies who doubled 

 up their rates on empty boxes have had 

 a change of heart already and have gone 

 back to first principles and the regular 

 charges again. 



Inventor Krick, of Brooklyn, the "im- 

 mortal" or inuuortelle man, has "taken 

 time by the fetlock" again and with the 

 next Christmas bee buzzing in his bon- 

 net has patented a tree holder that will 

 do him credit, as do all his practical in- 

 ventions. Austin. 



LILY OF THE VALLEY. 



A request comes from a subscriber as 

 follows: "Please ask W. S. to continue 

 his article on Lily of the Valle.y. Tell 

 us of treatment while forcing, tempera- 

 ture, shading, watering, also when to 

 plant Easter crop, and oblige." 



Without referring to what I wrote 

 ' about this beautiful flower in December 

 I will attempt to answer the above, but 

 must first be allowed to say that there 

 are so many much larger growers than 

 I am that I would rather read of their 

 treatment or method than write about 

 mine. However, from middle of Janu- 

 ary, when first crop of new pips are 

 flowered, till we get the outside flowers 

 we have produced flowers about as good 

 as any we have seen, and 90 to 95 per 

 cciTt. of all the roots put in. 



Up to five .years ago we used to try 

 several methods, among others putting 

 the roots in flats four inches deep and 

 placing the flats on or over hot water 

 pipes. We also had a bed of sand where 

 the bottom heat was 85 to 90 and the 

 top heat 75. By both these plans we 

 got good flowers occasionall.v but with 

 no certainty or uniform success. Now 

 we have a box or frame 20 feet long, 

 which incloses four 4-inch hot water 

 pipes. It is simply one-inch boards, 

 which confine the heat both back and 

 front and at both ends. A foot above 

 the pipes are roofing slates, well sup- 

 ported. On the slates is six inches of 

 sand. Ours is lake sand, but bank sand 

 would in my opinion be just as good, 

 and so I tliink would be finely sifted 

 coal or coke ashes or powdered coke or 



